The rebel punk Brujah and animalistic shapeshifting Gangrel are good combat options, the blood magic specialists of the Tremere have the strongest powers, and the artsy bohemian Toreador and power-dressing corporate Ventrue are best at talking their way out of problems. They're your new-game-plus clan, highly recommended to shake up your second go around.Īny of the other clans are fine for a first-timer.

Also, since those insights into the future drive Malkavians mad, playing one means hearing voices and having hallucinations. The Malkavians have a limited ability to see the future, which means they have a lot of bespoke dialogue options that spoil twists because they know them already. They're your hard-mode challenge run choice. The Nosferatu appear so blatantly undead they can't show themselves in public, and you'll spend most of the game travelling via sewer if you play one. Though it's not up-front about this, two of the vampire clans are designed for a second playthrough. In fact, given how different Bloodlines can be depending which clan you choose, it's worth a second run with the same setup before you even think about tinkering. You may not want or need console commands to finish Bloodlines, but there they are just in case.Īs for actual full-blown mods rather than patches, there are plenty, but none are the kind of thing you want on your first playthrough. Useful commands are 'noclip' for when you get stuck in a door (it happens), 'god' for godmode (enter 'god' again to turn it off), and 'giftxp n' (where n replaces your current unspent xp total). It's also worth knowing that Bloodlines has a console you can open by pressing ~. And among the changes are optional shortcuts that let you bypass some of the late-game combat dungeons that are its weakest points, and a sewer rat who is also a cab driver (though he only appears if you play a Malkavian).

Some of its additions are rough around the edges, sure, but so is everything about Bloodlines. And yet, I recommend the plus patch anyway.

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